10 Artists Who Were Inspired By David Bowie

Today marks David Bowie's 70th birthday.

The world is still reeling from the loss of one of music's biggest icons in 2016.

To celebrate his life and talent, we've put together a list of just some of the many artists he influenced throughout his career.

Lady Gaga

Following her tribute to her idol at the Grammys 2016, Lady Gaga spoke to NPR about how David Bowie inspired her.

She explained "You meet or see a musician that has something that is of another planet, of another time, and it changes you forever" and stated "I feel like my whole career is a tribute to David Bowie."

via YouTube/LadyGagaVEVO

Calvin Harris

In an interview with About, Calvin explained that the reason for the 80s vibes in his debut album I Created Disco was because he was listening to a lot of David Bowie albums at the time.

His song Acceptable in the 80s even samples Shake It by Bowie.

via YouTube/Calvin HarrisVEVO

The Killers

Speaking to NME, Brandon Flowers revealed the true extent of the influence David Bowie had on their music and, in particular, the song All These Things That I've Done, stating "We also took the bassline from a David Bowie song called ‘Slow Burn’, from ‘Heathen’, although enough time has probably passed now that I think he probably won’t sue us!”

via YouTube/cinderellllaa'schannel

via YouTube/TheKillersVEVO

Adam Lambert

The American Idol star was inspired by Bowie in many ways.

He told Billboard "Foremost is the music, but the first thing that I saw as a spectator was how he looked and his image and his styling and his concepts that he pushed forward that were so out of the box and so forward-thinking.

He added "I loved how he challenged people as far as what he thought of how gender was represented."

Janelle Monáe

Janelle Monáe is known for her quirky and unique style, so it came as no surprise when she covered David Bowie's Heroes for Pepsi's 2014 Now Is What You Make It campaign.

Speaking to Rolling Stone, she said "Bowie is part of my musical DNA in so many ways."

via YouTube/janellemonae

Arcade Fire

The band famously performed with their idol at the Fashion Rocks event in 2005 and went on to collaborate with him on the song Reflektor.

According to NME, the indie rockers released a statement at the news of his passing which read “David Bowie was one of the band’s earliest supporters and champions. He not only created the world that made it possible for our band to exist, he welcomed us into it with grace and warmth."

via YouTube/ArcadeFireTube

Kanye West

While these two artists are different in so many ways, it could be argued that their passion for their art is almost identical.

Following his death, Kanye paid tribute to the legend on Twitter.

David Bowie was one of my most important inspirations, so fearless, so creative, he gave us magic for a lifetime.

Beyoncé

At the time, however, there were comparisons made to David Bowie's surprise album released earlier that year.

While it could just be a coincidence, it's definitely a worthy source of inspiration.

U2

Bono and The Edge released a touching tribute to the singer on January 11th.

Bono stated 'As a teenager, Bowie was our Elvis. They shared the same birthday and they both took music somewhere no one thought it could go. It was his otherworldliness that took us all away. A sense that we are not just earth bound creatures,' while The Edge said 'The impact that Bowie had on the culture was immense... He truly altered the course of music history.'